Meta Platforms sold €9 billion of senior notes on November 4 in its first bond sale denominated in euros, one day after it raised $15 billion in US dollar bonds. Together the two deals bring in about $25 billion in two days, at the exchange rate of 0.8905 euros per dollar that Reuters used. Meta's pricing term sheet lists six series, and the proceeds are for "general corporate purposes," according to the preliminary prospectus supplement.
Bloomberg reported that the euro deal drew a record €53 billion of orders, the most for any corporate deal in Europe. That is a large book. The spreads Meta paid for it are covered below.
What the euro deal looks like
The term sheet, filed with the SEC on November 4, lists these tranches. Each one is a senior note from Meta Platforms, Inc.:
- €1.75 billion of 4.300% notes due 2031
- €1.25 billion of 4.650% notes due 2033
- €1.00 billion of 4.900% notes due 2035
- €1.75 billion of 5.400% notes due 2038
- €1.75 billion of 6.050% notes due 2044
- €1.50 billion of 6.400% notes due 2065
The tranches add up to €9 billion. The shortest runs about four years and the longest about 38 years. The notes settle on November 12. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are the joint book-running managers. Meta says it intends to apply to list the notes on the Nasdaq Bond Exchange.
Meta's ratings are Aa3 with a stable outlook from Moody's and AA- with a negative outlook from S&P, according to the same term sheet. Reuters, citing a lead manager memo and the IFR news service, reported the €9 billion raise, and noted that it followed the dollar sale.
The dollar deal a day earlier
On November 3 Meta priced five dollar tranches totaling $15 billion:
- $3.25 billion of 5.850% notes due 2031
- $3.25 billion of 6.250% notes due 2033
- $4.00 billion of 6.550% notes due 2036
- $1.75 billion of 7.350% notes due 2046
- $2.75 billion of 7.500% notes due 2056
Bloomberg reported that investors placed as much as $58 billion of orders, about 3.9 times the deal size, according to people familiar with the matter. Reuters described the sale as part of a wave of AI-related fundraising for data centers, computing capacity and cloud expansion.
What the numbers say
The term sheets allow some simple arithmetic. Coupons are not yields, and the sales are in different currencies, so treat the comparison as rough.
- Dollar notes: the coupons weighted by size average about 6.60%, or roughly $990 million of interest a year on $15 billion.
- Euro notes: the weighted average coupon is about 5.32%, or roughly €479 million a year on €9 billion.
- Long-dated share: $4.5 billion of the dollar deal (30%) matures in 2046 or later. In the euro deal, €3.25 billion (about 36%) matures in 2044 or later.
- Order cover: $58 billion against $15 billion is about 3.9 times. €53 billion against €9 billion is about 5.9 times, although Bloomberg's order figure was reported before pricing.
The euro term sheet also gives each tranche's spread over mid-swaps, the usual euro benchmark. It runs from 103 basis points on the 2031 notes to 333 basis points on the 2065 notes. The 2033 notes priced at 135 basis points.
Meta's spreads were wider than Alphabet's
Alphabet sold €6 billion of euro bonds on November 2, with an order book above €17 billion, Reuters reported. That is just under three times the amount offered.
According to Bloomberg, as summarized by Oninvest, Meta's spreads over mid-swaps were wider than those on euro bonds from other hyperscalers across all six tranches. Bloomberg's expected level for Meta's roughly six-year tranche was 135 basis points, against 90 basis points on the six-year bonds Alphabet sold on Monday. By my arithmetic from those two figures, the Meta spread is 45 basis points wider. The final term sheet confirms 135 basis points on the 2033 notes.
Bloomberg also estimated that the yields Meta offered are more typical of bonds rated several steps below its AA grade, per the same Oninvest summary. In the dollar deal, the Seoul Economic Daily reported that the 2056 notes priced at 2.2 percentage points over Treasuries, about 0.9 points wider than a comparable Meta bond sold in April. It also reported that S&P Global Ratings lowered its outlook on Meta last week, citing financial strain from AI spending.
Why Meta is borrowing
Meta's third-quarter results explain the need. Capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, were $34.91 billion in the quarter. Free cash flow was negative $2.12 billion. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $82.45 billion at September 30. Meta guided 2026 capital expenditures to $135 billion to $145 billion.
The bonds follow Meta's stock plans. The company expanded plans for what could become a $97.5 billion equity raise, Reuters reported in its November 4 report, and the euro prospectus supplement says underwriters of the Series A depositary shares exercised their over-allotment option in full. Meta issued those additional shares on November 2 for net proceeds of about $1,869 million. We covered the original plan in Meta Plans to Raise Up to $95B in Stock for AI, and the quarter in Meta Q3 2026 Earnings Explained.
Reuters put Meta's total debt at $83.67 billion at September 30, according to data compiled by LSEG. These two sales add $15 billion and €9 billion before any repayment.
How it compares with Microsoft
Microsoft priced $25 billion of notes on October 29, its first US investment-grade bond sale since 2017. We covered that in Microsoft Prices $25B Bond Sale, Its First Since 2017. Microsoft's filing also gave a broad use of proceeds. Meta's filing gives only "general corporate purposes," so the AI link comes from the reporting, not from the document.
What to watch
- The final prospectus supplement for the euro notes, which should confirm net proceeds.
- Whether the notes trade tighter than their issue spreads. Bloomberg reported that the dollar bonds were already quoted at tighter spreads in the gray market.
- Meta's fourth-quarter results, which will show 2026 capital expenditures and free cash flow against the $135 billion to $145 billion guide.
- Whether other hyperscalers follow Alphabet and Meta into the euro market, as Reuters noted both used it this week.
Sources
- Meta pricing term sheet, euro senior notes (Form FWP), November 4, 2026
- Meta preliminary prospectus supplement, euro senior notes (Form 424B5), November 4, 2026
- Meta pricing term sheet, dollar senior notes (Form FWP), November 3, 2026
- Meta Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results
- Reuters: Meta sells first bonds in euros, raises €9 billion (The Straits Times)
- Reuters: Meta draws record orders for debut euro bond sale (Euronext Live)
- Reuters: Meta raises $15 billion in five-part US bond sale
- Bloomberg: Meta Raises $15 Billion as Elevated Bond Yields Stoke Demand
- Bloomberg: Meta Raises €9 Billion as Euro Bond Debut Draws Record Demand
- Oninvest: Meta draws record demand in its first euro bond offering (summarizing Bloomberg)
- Seoul Economic Daily: Meta Draws $58 Billion in Orders for $15 Billion Bond Sale
